About me:
My name is Jesenia Meza. This is my second year as an EL teacher. With remote learning being a challenge for me, I felt like this was my first-year teaching because this is my first-time teaching in person. I am an EL high school teacher who teaches newcomers and students who have been in the country for less than 5 years. I teach students from México, Central America, South America, Caribbean, Africa, and Vietnam. The great thing about being with my wonderful English learners (ELLs) is that every time they go to their native country, they bring me a small gift. This makes me feel special to them, and I really appreciate their gifts. Additionally, I have a Spanish book club that meets every Thursday. We also have field trips and complete services to keep my students engaged with the community. We have visited the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen, and we have cleaned our community on the weekends.
Something unique about me is that I have a sister and both
of us are educators. We are both the youngest. The only
difference between us is that she teaches small kids and I teach older
students. Every time we get together, we talk about our experiences in school.
We learn from each other and share strategies to help our students. Also, both
of us will be graduating from a university in the same year.
Screenshot: Jesenia Meza
Social Media:
I will be honest: I only have one social media account, which is Instagram. As a new educator, I really enjoy learning from others. I use Instagram to follow other educators and learn from them. I believe social media is powerful because we can communicate with different audiences. Additionally, we can share with other educators around the world. For example, I follow an EL teacher who shares great resources and invites guest speakers to her story lives. Also, I have learned about assessment choice boards for our ELLs. I would love to learn more about how I can use social media effectively in my classroom and outside my classroom.
Hi Jesenia! I really enjoyed reading your post. I am sorry that your first year teaching happened to be during a global pandemic. Last year was the most stressful and heart wrenching one of my teaching career and I hope that you have found that this year is a little better for you. I absolutely love that your students bring you gifts from their home countries. Being able to understand a bit more of a students' culture through those gifts is very valuable.
ReplyDeleteSocial media is a great tool to get resources from other educators. I love doing that as well. Looking forward to reading more of your posts!
Very nice to meet you, Jesenia. How wonderful to have a twin sister in the same profession! It's a built-in professional learning network! It sounds like you are doing some wonderful things with your students and helping them feel safe and supported. I'm looking forward to helping you discover more about social media this spring.
ReplyDeleteHi Jesenia! It is nice to meet you. I can't imagine my first year of teaching being through virtual learning. That had to be so difficult. I hope this year is going much smoother for you! From your post, it sounds like you have created a very safe and welcoming classroom for your students who are still getting acclimated to the United States and our schooling system. I love that you and your sister are able to share school experiences with each other. It is so important to have someone who understands what you do on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteIt is awesome that you are using social media to connect with other educators. It is such a great tool to use to see what others are doing in their classrooms as well as share successes in your classroom with others.